Getting settled in Château-Thierry

Bonjour!

It's been 2 and a half weeks since I landed in France. I almost have all of the paper work done and I'm starting to teach some classes here. It's been really busy figuring out everything about life and teaching in France. Living life here seems fairly normal on the surface, but there's so many difference that you wouldn't notice at first. And those are the things that throw me off the most. Like looking for loose leaf paper and only being able to find graph paper. Trying to find three ring binders and only being given the option of 2 or 4 rings. Finding milk in the grocery store that is not refrigerated. These little things add up.

All the staff here are really nice, but I've noticed it takes time for the people here to warm up to someone new. I'm doing my best to introduce myself to everyone, but I need to spend more time in the teachers lounge and give them opportunities to get comfortable and approach me at their own speed. I've heard that this is common in the French culture, but it is even more pronounced living in a small community. I feel like everyone here knows each other and I think it's hard not to with only 14,000 people in your town. I go out shopping and for dinner and usually see someone from the school, be it a student or a teacher. If you think about it, there's 700 students at the school plus about 50 staff which means that just over 5% of the population is here every day. So, it's really not surprising.

The job itself also has quite the learning curve. I don't have a lot of experience in front of classes and it takes some time getting used to the French school system. The teaching style of the teachers is a lot more strict than what I've seen in Canada as they have a very strict curriculum to follow throughout the year. It makes it hard for the students to open up and learn at a pace that works for them. I've found they really like designating someone as the translator and he or she answers the questions for everyone. It's going to take some work, but I think I'll get them all speaking :)

Aside from getting accustomed to all the different aspects of life in France, I'm enjoying my time here. Thankfully I have a lot of support from family and friends through emails, the two other assistants that I live with are also going through the same struggles. The best part is that Kirsten is here with me through the first month, so I have someone close to relate to while the town gets comfortable with having the new guy around.

And now for show and tell.

Here is a picture of my bedroom. There is a desk a bed a sink and a wardrobe. It is in the high school and it is very much like a student dorm. There are four separate rooms and we share a bathroom, shower and kitchen.

Here is the front door of the school as seen from my balcony.

On one of my first days, the fog rolled in and I thought it was so cool! After a couple days of fog, I realized this is normal weather for my region. It's not cool anymore, I miss the sun!

On my second day here, there was a street market. Many locals had tables set up selling their old junk. I happened to find a lot of children's books to help me learn French. I also found the one thing on my shopping list that I was hoping for. A guitar! I paid 15Euros for a 3/4 sized classical guitar. It wasn't very good, but I put brand new strings on it and it sounds great now!

Here I am with all my purchases in hand.

Here is Vicente with the game of Scrabble that we all bought together. We play it only in French. It makes the game really difficult.

 Here is Nicky with a bunch of books that she bought at the street market. Her French is a little more advanced and she bought some Dan Brown novels and such. I'm quite content with my Goosebumps in French and my French comic books.

Here we are on the only bridge in town.

 And here is the town square. Up on the hill behind the fancy looking building are the remains of the castle. There are quite a few restaurants here and a tiny movie theatre as well. But because the town is so small, a lot of places close early.

I have two more weeks of classes and then I get holidays for two weeks over Halloween. I guess they really like trick-or-treating in France. I'll make sure to get some pictures of Kirsten and I in Paris during our time off. Until then, there's not a lot more to show you from the town, but I'll keep you posted as I experience new things around France.

À plus tard

Later